Rhode Island First: Inmate Gets Liver Transplant on Taxpayers

A prison inmate in Rhode Island has received a liver transplant at a Boston hospital – the first in that state to undergo an organ transplant, a corrections spokeswoman said.

Jose Pacheco, 27, is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for robbery at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reports.

The procedure, which was confirmed on Monday by state Corrections Department spokeswoman Tracey Zeckhausen, occurred last week in Boston because no Rhode Island hospital performs liver transplants.

Costs for a liver transplant could top $1 million. Rhode Island is required, by U.S. Supreme Court precedent, to pay 40 percent of the expenses, with the remaining 60 percent covered by Medicare, the Journal reports.